


Linger

by TheSilenceIsKillingMe (TheVoice21)



Series: Pitiful Child [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Also I have to have my boy Logan, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dick Grayson is a Talon, Dick Grayson-centric, Gen, I mean I would count it, Liberal use of strike through, Light Angst, Not beta read we die like robins, Short, Talons don't like the cold, Well - Freeform, Winter, but idk, expicitly mentioned this time take that, is Dick being a Talon explicitly metioned, it's a debatably happy ending, wait
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27604061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVoice21/pseuds/TheSilenceIsKillingMe
Summary: There may not always be winter but there will always be the cold.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Garfield Logan, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Wally West
Series: Pitiful Child [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633180
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	Linger

Dick’s first memory is of snow. Of the gentle white flakes slowly falling down, down onto his awaiting tongue. Daj and Dat on either side of him, smiling down at him. 

Winter is on its last breath, this snow its last claim to life. Winter does not linger  ~~but the cold does.~~ Spring is on its way, Dick would know, after all, his birthday is on its way as well.

Dick likes winter, and snow even more. The way it captures everything in its white brilliance is mesmerising to Dick. For just a while, everything pauses, frozen in both time and ice. The snow keeps everything the way it is, like a photograph you can live in. Dick loves it.

Dick has been raised in change, Dick has been accustomed to change  ~~(Dick does not like change.)~~ People are joining the circus as often as they are leaving it. Permanently on tour, no two destinations the same and no two faces alike, the circus is much like winter in the idea that it does not linger. The only thing that doesn’t change in Dick’s life is change itself. If Dick were older he might’ve found irony in that statement, only Dick is seven, going on eight and has no concept of irony. Only Dick never gets older, and the irony remains lost to him.

Dick’s last memory is of the biting cold, the kind that seeps deep into your bones and doesn’t let go. Dick very suddenly doesn’t like winter anymore, it rips into him until he has nothing but his thoughts for company. The snow leaves him cold and alone, unable to move or make a sound. The white shine bright against his eyes and reflects against that horrid fountain; it fills nightmares as he’s surrounded by snowy white owls.

Dick’s dying breath is that of ice in his lungs, ice in his bones and glass cage surrounding him.

  
  


Talon does not like. Talon does not dislike. Talon does not think (Talon can’t, not when their blood is still and their heart left to stutter in stagnancy) nor do they feel (when Talon is called Gray Son, something deep inside them stirs  ~~they dare not name it, they dare not acknowledge it.~~ )

Talon does not forget. Talon does not always remember, but they never forget. Talon has not forgotten the bitter cold that sunk its claws into him. Talon has not forgotten the ice which oh so delicately frames his glass cage. Talon does not forget the ice that has settled in his lungs, unmoving, stagnant and unchanging. Talon does not breathe, but he does choke.

Talon does not forget the way they slow in cold. Does not forget the way the ice lingers on them. Does forget the way the glass cage frames his life. Does not, or can not? (Talon does not linger either)

_ Once Talon remembers when they did not close their eyes. The cold came, as it always did, only it did not leave again like it always did. The cold lingered on, growing. It lingered on their skin. Lingered in their lungs. Lingered on their eyes. _

_ Talon remembers watching. Talon remembers being watched. Talon remembered pain.  _ ~~_Talon remembers thinking and feeling_ ~~ _._

_ And, unlike the ice, Talon does not linger. Talon never lingers. _

  
  


Talon does not get caught. ~~Talon is caught~~.

  
  


Talon’s first winter is not cold. (Talon has been in snow many times, but he has not had Winter for many years) Talon’s first winter is spent in front of flames. Is spent on an impossibly soft chesterfield. He sits at the edge, his blankets draped around him in a way that should not be condoned but is.

Talon’s first winter is spent next to his pup. Jason is small, Jason is fragile, but Jason is so warm and so open and so loving. Jason, his pup, his saviour,  _ his _ , does not mind being used as a heating pad. Talon lets him read when they cuddle, so Jason does not mind.

Talon does not linger long. Talon never does.

  
  


Talon spends his later winters in a vast cave. It is long and spreads further than even he can see, but it is warmer than the glass cage will ever be.

Talon sits on the floor in front of the large sectional couch that wraps around the heater in the centre. His pup is on his lap, reading his latest Jane Austen novel. Wally is on his left, snuggling closer Talon by the minute. (Talon knows he is uncomfortably cold to the touch, Talon knows he’s not the favourite in winter, yet Talon knows that they do not care and will touch him anyway) Conner and Roy are behind Talon, their legs warm against his back. M'gann is on his right, chatting with Artemis who sits but a few feet away on her own chair. Talon recognises the way she sits, Talon knows that his pup does too. But neither mention it.

Artemis is like Talon. Neither lingers longer than they must.

  
  


Nightwing did not like winter. It was cold,  ~~too cold~~ , there was the ice,  ~~too white~~ . The ice sat tauntingly on him, settled in his lungs as an unpleasant reminder. It slowed his regeneration to a mockery of what it was supposed to be. It slowed  _ him _ down to a mockery of what he was supposed to be. Nightwing cannot protect his pups when it is winter, and so by proxy, he does not like winter.

Nightwing does, however, like his cuddle piles with his pups and cubs. His pups now include Jason, Cass, Tim and Steph. His little pup Jason is so big now. Bigger than Nightwing could have ever been. Cass is quiet like himself, yet kinder than he could ever hope to be. Tim is smarter than what Nightwing could ever comprehend, but Nightwing couldn’t be prouder. Steph is so impossibly loud that sometimes Nightwing thinks he can hear his heartbeat in her.

Gar’s warmth was so inviting, it helped Nightwing forget about his bone-deep cold. Bart’s energy seemed boundless and helped Nightwing forget the days when excess energy was a foreign and unknown concept.

His cuddle piles spanned the entirety of the heated flooring. Gar and Bart each occupied one side of his chest, both vying for more space (Nightwing will never be large enough to hold his cubs like he dearly wishes he could.) 

M'gann and Conner sit to one side of him, with Cassie and Tim the other. Cass is sprawled across his legs, attempting to do work. On a rare visit to the cave, Wally and Artemis sit behind him, playing with his hair while Roy braids Artemis’s hair.

Jason sits just to the side of the group, his favourite novel in hand. His hand trails up and down Cass’s back as well as Nightwing’s legs. His touch lingers on his dark veins.

Nightwing does not mind. Nightwing thinks he might linger too.

  
  
  


Garfield likes winter. Between the snowball fights, the snow angels and extra hot chocolate, winter is fun.

Nightwing, however, does not like winter, or snowball fights, or snow angels (or snow) and he can’t drink hot chocolate. Nightwing has always felt like the inside of a freezer, winter only makes it worse.

Garfield will help his friend in any way he can, regardless of the situation. And in winter? Garfield will cuddle his friend until there is no tomorrow.

  
  


It is Garfield’s first winter with Wally gone. It is colder than Garfield thought it would be, Wally’s boisterous attitude usually kept them warm. Wally always made a point to come around at winter, usually spending the entirety of boxing day at the cave. It was warmer with Wally there.

But if it is Garfield’s first winter without Wally, then it is Nightwing’s first winter without Wally.

Nightwing had been on edge the entire winter. Never staying in one room for too long, always moving. If Garfield didn’t know better he might’ve even thought it was his attempt to keep his blood circulating.

Garfield wondered if the cold reminds Nightwing of the North Pole like it did Garfield. 

However, Wally did not make it, he couldn’t stay alive and was unable to linger. But Nightwing did. Nightwing lingered and Garfield planned to keep it that way.

~~Because Garfield worried, late at night, that Nightwing would realise he had nothing to stay for and would leave. That Nightwing would be like the winter he reminds Garfield of, cold to the touch and never lingering.~~

**Author's Note:**

> Randomly (before this) I googled what 'linger meant' and it came up with 'staying alive' like it obviously wasn't accurate because I recently googled it and that wasn't the answer but the meaning still applies when reading this.
> 
> Take it as you will, ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
